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Topic: America's Got Talent 6 (Read 15094 times)

Auditions were held in 8 major U.S. cities: Seattle-Tacoma, Houston, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Denver, Chicago, New York City and Los Angeles. Host Nick Cannon and judges Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandel return to the show, which begins with the preliminary rounds tonight and will be on all summer on NBC from 8pm to 10pm Tuesdays. When the live shows begin, there will be an additional night added for a results show.

That's interesting...they are keeping all the same judges and the same host as last season.

I also like that they are bringing back the feature which allows anyone to submit auditions via Youtube. It adds a great element and was validated by the fact that last season's runner up was from that category.

I will probably keep up with this season at least. The auditions and early stages are more interesting for me though. Especially since all five winners are singers All of the more unique acts don't seem to have a chance.

It will be news to Terry Fator that he is classified as a singer (which is his secondary performance attribute) rather than as a ventriloquist.

Unique acts always have a chance because the judges love them and push them ahead even if the viewing public does prefer singers. See the next post for my notes on Team iLuminate, which is so unique and interesting that without seeing any acts from the other 6 audition sites I predict that it will be in the finale several months ahead.

I have decided to only report the acts that are going through to the Las Vegas Round rather than reviewing those not going through as well, although I will report things of particular interest from the latter.

Los Angeles AuditionsFrank - juggled 3 fire torches while making being on a high unicycle appear to be harder than it really is for him; he also had Howie Mandel help him, which Howie regretted after the fire torches came dangerously close to him.

Yellow Designs Stunt Team - using short bicycles and a ramp to do up to a 360 degree loop/180 degree turnaround; this was very impressive

The Sh'? Boys - age 5, 6 and 7 singers and dancers who are quite charming

Team iLuminate - a fantastic group similar to the "in black with fluorescent dots on their uniforms" finalists Fighting Gravity from AGT5; they had a computer specialist who had programmed routines involving lights on their all-black costumes to give exceptional entertainment. Piers called it "the single most exciting act he had ever seen on all seasons of America's Got Talent." It will be interesting to see what variety they can put into their act so that it is not basically a repeat of what they have already done.

There were 2 performers who fell off the stage, one getting hurt, one not and both not going to Las Vegas for low talent reasons. Also, one group convinced Nick Cannon to get the orchestra to replay "Hot! Hot! Hot!" so they could restart their dance after being buzzed off. The result was no different, a quick 3 Xs.

3 acts stood out as ones who should definitely make the top 20 or top 10. Team iLuminate is definitely the front-runner until I see something better. Miami All-Stars energy and synchronization makes them an excellent dance act. In liked the Yellow Designs Stunt Team, but question what they will be able to do for multiple encores.

Frank - juggled 3 fire torches while making being on a high unicycle appear to be harder than it really is for him; he also had Howie Mandel help him, which Howie regretted after the fire torches came dangerously close to him.

He regretted it when his Mysophobia kicked in after the guy grabbed his head.

Last night it was Seattle as the originating point for this show's auditions. Here were the results of acts voted through by the judges to the Las Vegas round:

Melissa, age 23, comedienne - her impersonation of Christina Aguilera singing the National Anthem was priceless Zuma Zuma - acrobatic troupe from Mombasa Kenya - lots of energy, closing with a pyramid of these 6 guys with the top guy invertedPoplyfe - 5 teenagers on keyboard, guitar, drums plus one female singer; she is very good; they are mediocre; Piers challenged her to drop the group, which she refused to do. Piers voted against her but she is going to Vegas based on Howie and Sharon supporting her.Daring Jones Duo - trapeze act; I saw nothing extraordinary here but the judges sent them on to Vegas.Electrokytes - dancers who are just OKSadie, a 8 year old singer with a mature voiceMaraucio, 33 - showman who sings and dances; Piers voted against him but he is going to Vegas anyway.

Here is what happened to two groups that did not make itA + C Twins - this 2 guy singing group challenged Howie to come up and sing and dance better than them when he wanted to buzz them off; he didn't but was about as good so that shows their limited talent; they did not make itCarlos the "one man paper horn band" - this was absurd; he failed to get the support of Piers and Sharon so he did not make it furtheran interlude involving Piers going off-stage allowed Nick Cannon to clown around with Carlos.

From what I saw, Melissa and Zuma Zuma were special and all other acts just average.

The Rhinestone Ropers – Dan and Melody presented a Wild West Skill Show of knife throwing and pistols. He threw knives from about 3 feet away to an outline of her body (I was not impressed), threw them as she spun attached to a wheel (I was very impressed) and she shot some water balloons he tossed up while sideways on the wheel.

Mona Lisa – 29 year old twin females who are good singers

Charles Pechacko – a juggler who performs in the dark like Defying Gravity

The Purrfect Angelz Dance Troupe – a routine set of dance moves by 8 Women

Daniel Joseph Baker – singer and piano player, he made it very clear by the way he sashayed on stage that he is quite different; however, he is a very good singer

Sandou Russian Bar Trio - a very pretty female who is an excellent gymnast does somersaults, twists and flips high above and descending to a 6 inch bar held by her husband and brother; this is incredibly dangerous, as evidenced by the withdrawal from the AGT3 competition of a Russian Bar Trio who should have won if their female had not been seriously injured in practice

LD Dance Company – a routine dance act

Dani Shay – she is a dead ringer for Justin Bieber at almost twice his age, but she has big-time talent for comedy, songwriting and singing which will take her a long way in this competition

Lil T (Tanner) – age 6 and cute as a button; he romps around the stage but is not going far in this competition; he did tell Nick Cannon before performing that Nick was his favorite dancer; Nick returned the favor by going on stage after the judging to demonstrate his moves with Lil T.

Professor Splash – he is hoisted up by an extended forklift to the height for his pool dive; last night it was 27 feet, but he promised to try it in the finale for a world record of over 36 feet; the dive is a belly flop into 12 inches of water in a children’s inflatable pool; this is very impressive and very dangerous

One act which was notable although not good enough was Johnny Di Dimenico attempting to impersonate Howie Mandel, but the audience and Howie did not find it up to the mark on quality, so he was eliminated.

The acts clearly going to the finals will be Professor Splash and the Sandou Russian Bar Trio. Dani Shay might make it.

Mrs. SmithThis 36-year-old woman is dressed as an old lady playing the electric guitar. What were Howie and Sharon thinking? I guess it must be to annoy Piers once he found out the quality of acts they were putting through.

St. Lukes Bottle Band – BandThis band plays music with beer bottles and shooting corks out in the audience. Sharon and Howie vote them through even though they are inferior.

Nick brings out a cardboard cutout of Piers and places it in Piers’ chair.

Lys Agnes – 27-year-old SingerShe sings one of many “Ave Maria” songs. I personally don't like her voice, but the judges and audience do.

Viva La MuerteWithout Piers there to enforce sanity, Howie and Sharon team up to let through a minimal talent act.

It took 18 hours to get to Minneapolis from New York, but finally Piers Morgan is in New York and on his way to the theatre. He walks on stage and rejoins the judges at the table. Hopefully now the judges can get back to business and take their jobs seriously.

Silhouettes - 9-18-year-old DancersThey perform behind a screen, so we only see their silhouettes. Just average (sorry, franxaverian)

I agree that it did not have as many high points as we are used to on AGT. However, the reason is obvious. These were the leftovers that they culled out of the first Seattle episode, as they only had one audition in Seattle. 7 went through to the Las Vegas round from the first episode, but were trying to expand it into 2 full episodes when it merited only 1.8 with 6 additional acts going through.

I know and fully realised that it's hard to get 2 great episodes from 1 city but I would rather see a 30-minute episode of all the passing hopefuls rather than 1 hour full of failed performers or maybe half Seattle-half from the other city.

Well, I see Seth going well until final round. The others, I don't see their chances and I just don't like the dancing little boys although I know they are good.

I concur in your opinions. Nobody from the Seattle 2 telecast has a chance of going really far while we agreed that from Seattle 1 Zuma Zuma and Melissa will go far. You thought and probably still do that Sadie will go far. Bianca Ryan was the last 8 year old who will do well on America's Got Talent. You heard this first from me.

Attack Dance Crew – a high energy group doing “a new style of dance”; 8 guys from either Alabama or Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University; the vote was 2-1 with Howie dissenting

Captain and Madame Maybelle – he is a body piercer who puts a hanger down his throat and then puts a saw down it and then attached cement blocks to either end of the rod holding the saw; the vote was 2-1 with Howie dissenting

Necessary Diva – a song from the opera Carmen done well

Armando and Angelina – popera; he plays the recorder and sings a little pop while she is continuously singing classical music; unfortunately she has a too-heavy vibrato; the vote was 2-1, with Piers dissenting

Anna Graceman, age 11 – singer/keyboard for the Alicia Keyes song “If I Ain’t Got You”

None of the above groups is going very far (unlike 3 from the first group from the first Atlanta telecast). Attack Dance Crew has the best chance.

This telecast started with Howie Mandel rolling down the aisle inside a zorb. What a classy entrance!

Here are the acts which made it through in the first half of the NYC auditions:

John Pizzi – Nick Cannon was brought on-stage to get into a dog costume while the Ventriloquist behind this used Nick as his mouthpiece. It is not clear if he made it or not, but I think he did.

Snap Boogie – a dancer who did flips, somersaults and breakdancing as part of his high energy dance moves.

Michael Turco – magician, who made 5 different female contortionists appear during his routine. The judges praised his execution and timing.

Stephen Retchless – a male pole dancer performing in high-heeled shoes and going for the androgynous audience, he did some of his routine upside down. After he left the stage, Nick Cannon showed off his pole dancing upside down; it was pathetic. The judges voted 2-1 to send him to Vegas, with Piers dissenting.

ELEW – performed rock music on the piano. The judges were raving over it.

Landau – a car washer/detailer who can sing Frank Sinatra style almost as good as the original.

There are several acts who I expect to reach the finals from this group: Snap Boogie, Michael Turco the magician, and Landau.

Last night's speech by President Obama threw a monkey wrench into the telecast schedule for AGT6. The second hour was supposed to be New York auditions, but it was a truncated version of the Seattle auditions replayed instead. The schedule for next next has to cover New York, Chicago and Denver if AGT6 is going to be ready for the first Las Vegas show on July 5.

Shemika Charles - woman's world limbo record holder, but what does she do for an encore?

The only act worthy of making the final 10 is Shemika Charles, but that assumes that she makes it to the final 10, which I think will be difficult because what she does lacks sufficient variety for 5 episodes.

Tricky Jackson, strutting around the stage in a body-building pose while flexing his pectoral muscles in a unique way (but what does he do for an encore)

Taylor Davis, singer/guitarist

Cindy Chang (age 42 housewife) - sang Puccini aria with heavy vibrato in lower register and very nicely in higher register; the judges loved it but they are obviously not sophisticated about opera singers

Flores Family Globe of Death - I would hardly call it that, but for this initial outing which impressed the audience and all judges, the 8 and 13 year olds in the family performed with their father standing on the bottom of the stage globe. Asked about what they would do for an encore, he said that he rides too and so does his wife. They can fit all 4 Flores Family members into the same globe. That will be especially interesting to see.

I add these 2 that I saw but somehow missed writing about:Mike Stone and the Kritikal Band - 3 male musician and 3 female singers.

Fantastic Fig(age 76) - Illusionist with card trick

I think the Flores Family act is going to the final 10. Cindy Chang is iffy but may make it that far. Nobody else has any chance. That makes 10 quality acts for the final 10. I think there is one more audition show next week before the Las Vegas shows begin next week.

No, it's not Minneapolis. It might be Houston(Piers was carrying a sign saying 'Houston loves Howie'. I actually want to compare Cindy with Lys Agnes(The retail girl who sang 'Ave Maria' fantastically) but I can't find her in your recap so I'll try my best to make one.

There's some other performers who got into next round from Houston(?):Mike Stone and the Kritikal Band --> A band with 3 male musician and 3 female singing. Piers buzzed but after the buzz, he said he enjoy the performance more

@Apskip: Here's the one that you miss. Minneapolis, where Piers is stuck in blizzard for almost half of the show. 1 'No' means not going through.

The acts that going to the next round(without Piers):1. Echo of Animal gardens with Sarah Hoff, its trainer --> bird that can talk, imitates other animal's sound, makes impressions and singhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp0gkjJLlVk2. Mrs Smith --> Performance artist, one who acts like a rocker version of 'Mrs. Doubtfire'3. St. Lukes Bottle band --> playing music with different kinds of bottles4. Halls of Magic --> magician5. Lys Agnes (27) --> a young female who used to work in retail, singing 'Ave Maria' with a really fantastic voice.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drPurxAjBis6. Viva La Muerte --> a dancing small woman, performance artist

I somehow missed having my writing for the first Minneapolis round make it into a recap. I have gone back and added it as part of the Houston episode where it actually was. Thank you for giving me the heads-up that I was missing something. Unfortunately, my judgment on acts worthy of the final 10 does not match yours. I did add The Kinetic King who is in fact my overall favorite in AGT6. However, Lys Agnes has a nice voice but not good enough to make the final 10. Also, I found Silhouette a bit juvenile (no surprise so it's composed of 36 kids). they will not be in the final 10 in my opinion. See my final 10 list excluding any I might want to add next week to replace Professor Splash: